The invention relates to industrial control systems used for monitoring and control of an industrial process such as controlling and monitoring a power plant for generating electric power, an oil refinery or chemical plant, a pulp and paper industry, food processing or for manufacturing of goods, and the like activities.
Industrial control and automation systems, such as SCADA systems (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) or DCS systems (Distributed Control Systems), are computer based system used for monitoring and control of an industrial process. A DCS system is typically built on processes and controllers, buses are used for communication. Input and Output devices are components in the DCS system and the processors communicate the information through the input to the output components. The input components get signals from input instruments in the field (the physical process) and send the information further to the out put instruments in the field, finally the processor connects these components and buses connects the information to the HMI from where the process is monitored and controlled. The process is monitored through process graphics. While monitoring a process critical events and alarms are presented in the HMI to make the user aware of each situation and in control of the whole process.
800×A is DCS system used for process control. The process is monitored and controlled by users, operators, from the HMI. The HMI is typically presented on several LCD displays, and is visualising a process, the process objects and their performance. The HMI can be presented and divided on different monitors. To control the process from the HMI typically a mouse and a keyboard are used. The keyboard is provided both with an alpha-numeric “standard” keyboard section.
The process is visualised and presented in the HMI in process graphics. An industrial plant is typically presented in several process graphics divided in a tree hierarchy from overview displays to more detailed process graphics, presenting and visualizing different parts of the process. More detailed described, each part of the process is divided into several subareas and more detailed process graphics in a plurality of levels of detail of the object, a first sublevel visualising a plurality of subareas of a main process picture, and a second sublevel visualising subareas of the first sublevel process pictures. The process objects, field devices as valves, tanks, engines, process objects to be monitored are presented in the process graphics, one process graphic is typically built up with instances of several process objects to describe one area of the industrial process. The process objects are related to different types of information, for example installation notes, alarms, parameters and this information can be accessed via the process graphics. In 800×A access to the process object's specific information is available in using context menus by right-clicking on the specific process object. In the context menu it is possible for example to access trends, alarms and other process dependent specific information. Examples of process object information are trend displays visualizing the process data, and the alarms related to this specific process object. The faceplate is one kind of information that can be accessed from the process objects using the process graphics, in 800×A faceplates are used to control the industrial process.
An operator monitors and controls an underlying industrial process by interacting with the HMI. The HMI (see FIG. 5 at work stations 51) is communicatively and operatively connected with I/O units, for example field devices 57, 58, 59, to the industrial process 50 and receives information for monitoring and controlling of the underlying industrial process via the field devices 57, 58, 59, this communication typically include at least one server, such as a control server 54 and a protection server 55, a database 53 and communication buses 52, 56. The field devices 57-59 are provided to monitor physical properties of the process 50 and the objects of the process, and the operator can control the industrial process 50 and the objects of the process from the HMI 51 and through the field devices 57-59 that interacts with the objects of the process. The physical properties that should be monitored are defined and the system control functions are configured, when the system is installed and adapted for the specific underlying industrial process. For example, sensors for temperature, pressure, voltage, power, liquid levels and on/off status are arranged on or near process objects, such as pumps, motors, manufactured products etc. The sensors are connected to the field devices (or similar I/O units) and measurements are available to the operator in the process graphics by means of the control and monitoring system communicating with the sensors and transferring the data to the workstation 51 for presentation in the HMI, such as in a process graphics showing an area or subarea of the industrial process 50. Moreover, the control signal transfer operator commands, such as inputted by the operator from a keyboard, from the work station 51 through the control system to I/O units that are operatively connected to control the objects of process; objects like motors, pumps, transformers, circuit breakers, lifting devices, containers, transport belts, coolers and heaters.
With the HMI (of work station 51), the operator can monitor status information of the industrial process 50 obtained by the control system, and control the industrial process by control commands in the control system. Such interaction should be easy and reliable. In 800×A, it is possible to use already defined short cuts for easy access on the present picture view, for example to process graphics for retrieving information of particular importance during a specific event, presently or in the near future.
EP 1 965 301 discloses a method for providing a user interface for an industrial control system comprising a computer and a plurality of process graphics comprising software objects for controlling and/or monitoring real world objects controlled by said control system. A display of selected process graphics, a designated view arranged with a tab or other selection means, is automatically generated. The designated view is generated dependent on selecting one or more logical groupings to which control system software objects representing the real world objects belong.
US2010/169818 discloses a computer-implemented method of navigating a GUI. The method can include, responsive to a user input initiating a navigation mode, overlaying, atop of the GUI located within a first layer, a virtual keyboard within a second layer, wherein the virtual keyboard includes a plurality of virtual keys. The method can include, for each virtual key, associating the virtual key with a region of the first layer including an area of the GUI beneath the virtual key. The method can include mapping each virtual key with a physical key of a physical keyboard communicatively linked with a computer rendering the GUI and, responsive to a user input selecting a physical key of the physical keyboard, selecting a region corresponding to the selected physical key. A level of magnification for the selected region can be increased within the first layer while keeping the virtual keyboard sizing constant.